Mancini ready to listen to offers for Balotelli as Man City boss prepares £46m Falcao bid

Manchester City will explore the possibility of selling Mario
Balotelli in January if he does not heed the latest wake-up call from
manager Roberto Mancini.

Balotelli watched Sunday's win over Tottenham from the stands after
he was left out of the squad altogether for what Mancini described as a
'technical' reason, and then flew back to Italy for Wednesday's
international against France amid fresh speculation over his future in
England.

Trim: Mario Balotelli shows off his new haircut during training with the Italy squad on Monday

National service: Balotelli will hope to put his recent misery with Manchester City behind him

It is understood that Mancini wants to see a dramatic improvement from the 22-year-old striker whose impact on the pitch – just two goals in 13 appearances this season – no longer justifies the distraction he causes.

Balotelli was spotted partying by City fans the night before the Spurs game, reports The Sun. He was seen entering the Panacea Restaurant and Bar in Alderley Edge at
1am — with City kicking off at 1.30pm against Spurs that afternoon.

Balotelli had been axed from the City squad the previous day and told he was
not required at the team hotel that night.

Although Balotelli had not officially broken any rules by being out as he was not in
the squad, the latest indiscretion has not gone down well.

City's new director of football Txiki Begiristain is believed to be open to selling Balotelli, and has told Mancini that he must offload players before adding to his squad in January.

Just warming up: Italy's squad jog in training ahead of their friendly against France on Wednesday

The problem could be finding any takers for a player who would cost in
the region of £20million and earns nearly £100,000-a-week.

Both Milan clubs are interested in taking Balotelli back to Italy, and
the player is keen to be nearer his hometown of Brescia with girlfriend
Raffaella Fico expected to give birth to their first child over
Christmas.

However, it is
unlikely that AC Milan could afford him and they are not interested in
any swap deal involving their rising star Stephan El Shaarawy.

Inter, who sold Balotelli to City for £24m in the summer of 2010, are a
more realistic option but would be unlikely to take him in January.
They already have a problem player in Antonio Cassano and are concerned
about the effect signing Balotelli in mid-season would have on their
dressing-room.

Out in the cold: Balotelli was dropped from Manchester City's team that beat Tottenham on Sunday

Paris Saint-Germain, who had a bid rejected in the summer, may revive their interest but the player is known to prefer Italy.

He still hopes to salvage his City career despite a demotion to
fourth-choice striker behind Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko.

In an interview withTime Magazine earlier this month, Balotelli
once again spoke of his special relationship with Mancini who brought
him through the ranks at Inter.

'My relationship with Mancini is really important,' he said. 'He's known me since I was young and he's like a father to me.

'I used to play with the young children at Inter Milan, so I know
him very well and I can tell him anything.' City won in Balotelli's
absence on Sunday with Dzeko's late strike clinching a 2-1 comeback
victory over Spurs.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart believes it was the perfect riposte to critics
who claim that City are divided and lack the togetherness to retain
their Premier League title.

'The spirit has never been in question,' said Hart. 'We have that
and we have quality. Those two combined makes us the team we are.

'It's not a quality we've developed. It's just instilled in the
people. It's a group of winners. Twenty players who play to win – we're
lucky with that. We don't turn up to tick boxes or make people happy,
we turn up to win.